Archive for November, 2012

Most of the Alpine Residents have received their Fire Tax Bills. If you haven’t had a chance to research this ‘fee’, check out the Fire Tax Protest webpage authored by the Howard Jarvis Foundation. This webpage is: http://firetaxprotest.org/.

You can find the protest forms on this page and the instructions under the ‘refund’ tab.

The County has contracted with ABC to pave the roads, but Bert W. Salas is fixing the drainage problem outside of the Alpine Sun Office. What a mess. They have installed a 6″ drainage pipe along our sidewalk. The only problem is that they have completely destroyed our garden. We are the only property on the boulevard that has has a successful garden installed and it was actually green and lush and growing. Now, they have RIPPED it to shreds and our sidewalk is cut up with hug trenches that seem rather daunting and dangerous to pass over. Again, what a mess!

The brilliance that is being displayed in the planning stages of this particular job is astounding. . .They poured the cement, encouraged us to plant and beautify, and then they come into install drainage and rip everything out!

The men working out here have promised to have a landscaper come out and put things back to the way they were before they destroyed it. We’ll see.

Inserting a 6″ drain under existing concrete that was installed less than 6 months ago

Wow! I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I think that the County of San Diego is worse at managing traffic and road work than SDG&E. The work that is going on, on the Boulevard at this time makes me ALMOST miss the previous crews. It appears that the entry and exit from the Mobile Home park is completely blocked, it’s confusing to everyone which lane we Alpiners are to be driving in, there is no traffic control to speak of, and the workers are lackadaisically walking around the boulevard in front of traffic, without awareness of vehicles trying to drive down the road.

It makes you wonder how the County of San Diego can enforce any kind of permitting when they them selves seem to be unaccountable to safety.

They have even torn up our garden in front of the Alpine Sun! I hope they fix it. Everyone worked really hard to get it to grow!

Among other things, Proposition 30 raises the personal income tax rate on individuals making more than $250,000 per year for the next seven years.

The income tax changes apply retroactivelyto all income earned or received since January 1, 2012. The law waives the underpayment of estimated tax penalty that results from a retroactive tax law change that takes place during the year.

The complete 2012 tax rate schedules will be available on our website early next week. Visit ftb.ca.gov and search for 2012 tax rates.

At long last, The Alpine Sun is back online! It has been an exciting journey here, and developing this website, which is designed to continue the tradition established by the newspaper way back in 1952 – serving Alpine and our backcountry friends!

Our philosophy with this new digital news platform is the same as it is for the newspaper – this is your outlet for everything important to you in the community – but now in a way that lets you comment on stories, share them with your friends and relatives, and engage in a new way with the newspaper and your community.

So, welcome to the new website, and we hope you find it useful and fun to use!